Boys' Day Out
by jayer
Summary: After all the drama, the boys get a day out. Sequel to "to wear the red band"
1. Chapter 1

"You sure you can get it?"

"It's done. I'll be there tonight."

"Tomorrow's fine."

"Okay, whatever. I'll be there bright and early with my best stash."

"Great. I owe you, Max."

"Yeah you do."

Adam slipped his phone in his pocket and picked up the next file in the stack. Reviewing records was one of his least favorite tasks. He reached for his coffee cup only to realize it was missing.

"Light dash of milk, not cream. One sugar." Brittany set the cup down.

"Thank you." Adam took a sip. "Was it that obvious I was falling asleep?"

"Kind of." Brittany laughed. She opened a desk drawer and pulled out out a plastic container.

"Muffins?"

"Cookies." Brittany popped off the lid. "Chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin and gingerbread. I wasn't sure what you like."

"You made me cookies?"

"No. Yes. Kind of." Brittany stammered. "I made them for everyone but I wanted to be sure there would be something you like since you got my suspension revoked."

"You could have saved yourself the trouble. I had nothing to do with it." Adam bit into a cookie. "Gingerbread, tasty."

"If you didn't do it?"

"Jackson. And before you go thanking her, you should know it was totally selfish on her part."

"I doubt that."

"Trust me it was. Jackson might act like you annoy her but at least you aren't a temp." Adam laughed. "She loathes temps."

"It's almost three." Brittany put the finished files back in their racks.

Adam closed the last file. "And I'm done." He picked up another cookie and his coffee. "With just enough time for one last thing before rounds."

Adam found Leo, Dash and Jordi hanging out in The Swamp. "Knock, knock." He rapped on the door frame.

"Yo Doc, what's happening." Dash looked a little guilty. Then again he always looked guilty, because he was typically up to something.

"Well Dash. I came to ask a favor from the three of you."

"What kind of favor?"

"A weird one. Well maybe weird. Might be cool."

"Shoot." Leo piped up.

"Long story short is that I own this house in Malibu. It's my family's old house, my parents gave it to me when I moved back to LA. It was too big for just me and traffic to the hospital was a nightmare so I bought a place closer and put the house up for sale. Finally sold it and now I need to go sort out what furniture and stuff I want to keep.

"I'm not real excited about going out there by myself and I thought, what with Dash going home soon, you guys might enjoy getting out of the hospital for a couple of nights."

"We could do that?"

"If your doctor approves, which I do. Plus you have to be accompanied by someone trained to handle any emergencies, which I am. And of course your parents have to say okay. Which they have for Leo and Dash and legal made me Jordi's temporary guardian so he's good.

"What do you guys say? Wanna take a field trip?"

The boys all nodded.

"Good. I've got afternoon rounds so I'll be back in a couple of hours."


	2. Chapter 2

Adam turned into a driveway.

"Whoa." Dash gasped as they pulled up in front of the house.

"This is your house?" Leo

"This isn't a house, it's a palace." Dash laughed

"Mediterranean style villa is how the real estate agent listed it." Adam laughed. "And yes as of a week ago it was my house."

"But you didn't live here?" Jordi asked.

"I would." Dash replied. "This is awesome."

"I might have if I was married, had kids. But it's too big for just me. I have a place near the hospital."

"There you are." An older woman waved at them from the doorway.

"Guys, this is Molly." Adam gave the woman a hug. "Molly and her brother Luke have been running this place since forever. This is Dash, Jordi and Leo."

"I made up you kids old rooms for the boys. Put you in your parents room upstairs."

"Why have a grownup breathing down your necks?" Adam winked at them. "You guys can explore on your own for a bit?"

"Yeah"

"Good, I'm going to grab a quick shower." Adam disappeared upstairs. "I'll yell when dinner's ready."

"This place is insane." Dash laughed.

"Who knew Dr McAndrew was so rich?" They followed Molly down a hallway to a small wing of bedrooms.

"Here you are."

"Uh ma'am, which room was Dr McAndrew's?" Jordi asked. "Just curious."

"Don't call me ma'am. It's Molly." The woman smiled. "It was that one behind you. His sister was in the room next to his and Kevin and Justin were across the hall."

"What's that room at the end?"

"That was their playroom. There's a small tv but no cable. You'll probably want the big one in the movie room."

"Movie room?"

"Down by the library and the gym."

"There's a gym?

Molly nodded. "It's small. Doctor Adam prefers to run and swim."

"There's a pool?"

"There's an ocean. Don't need a pool." Molly laughed, half pushing them down the hall. "You boys ask too many questions. Go find some answers."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow." Jordi looked around the room. "This is crazy."

"It's like a real movie theatre."

"Molly said you boys might have found this."

They turned around to find a man grinning at them for the door. "I'm Luke. Molly's brother."

They quickly introduced themselves.

"The kids used to love this room, especially when there were parties. Used to have a real movie projector and everything. Fellow who built the house was some kind of director or something. He took the projector when him. Now it's just a DVD player. There's stack of movies in that cabinet over there. Mostly old stuff but you might find something."

"Thanks."

"You find the game room?"

"No."

Luke led them down the hall. "Pool table is a real beauty."

"Yeah." Leo nodded. "You guys wanna play?"

"Sure."

Time flew by as the three boys played game after game.

"You guys hungry?"

They looked up to find Adam leaning in the doorway.

"Yes I wear jeans." Adam replied to Dash's amused look. Having only seen him in dress clothes and scrubs, he knew Dash would have a comment about seeing him in jeans and his old college sweatshirt.

"I didn't say anything."

"Not with your words." Adam gave him a snarky grin.

Adam led the boys out to the kitchen where the counter was covered with various bowls of food.

"I hope you guys like stir fry."

They nodded.

"Good. Get cooking." Adam laughed. "Pick what you want and I'll cook it for you. Leo gets to go first. Can't risk him getting any shrimp on his food and having him blow up like Violet Beauregarde."

"Who?"

"Dash for a guy who is supposed to be so hip and with it, I'm disappointed you have to ask that. Ask Emma when you get back to the hospital."

"You know the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? She's the girl that blew up like a giant blueberry."

"Ten points to Jordi. He can go next." Adam said as he expertly tossed the food in the wok.

"There you go."

Adam quickly finished their food and his own and joined them at the table outside.

"Well?"

"This is great."

"There's plenty more." Adam grinned as the boys devoured their food. Kids with a big appetite weren't common in the hospital. It was a nice change.

"Where'd you learn to cook?"

"My mother. She was a chef before she met my father. She loved to be in the kitchen and insisted we all learn. I'm far from her skills but at least I'm not living on take out and grilled cheese."

A breeze blew up from the water below them.

"Smells like oranges."

"There's about a dozen orange trees in the garden."

"How close is the ocean?"

"Really close. Walk through the garden and the beach is on the other side. You can check it out tomorrow."

"I hope you boys have room for dessert." Molly came out with a cake and plates on a tray.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Doctor Adam, have I ever let your birthday go by without a cake?"

"No."

"Then I had to do it." Molly smiled.

"I suppose it's Black Forest. And I suppose there's ice cream."

"Of course." Molly smiled even bigger.

"Now Dash don't get too excited but yes there's liquor in the cake." Adam cut generous slices of the still warm cake while Molly scooped out ice cream.

"Really?" Dash dug into the cake and took a big bite.

"The alcohol gets burned off when it's baked so you won't get drunk."

"That's lame."

They all laughed.

"You guys eat up. I'm going to help Molly clean up in the kitchen." Adam stacked up their empty dinner plates. "Don't stay up too late and no going down to the beach okay."

"Sure."

"The house likes it."

Adam set the plates on the counter by the sink. "The house likes what?"

"The laughter. It's been too long since there were laughing children here."

"Well Angela says this guy has like six kids so the house should get a lot of laughter."

"It's been too long since I've seen you laugh like when you were little." Molly kissed him on the cheek. "It makes you very handsome."

"I have to admit, it feels good. And it looks good on them." Adam took the cup of coffee Molly offered him, watching the boys through the open French doors.

"You did a very good thing. Especially for Jordi." Adam had told Molly everything about the whole situation when he suggested bringing the boys. He wasn't surprised when she practically demanded they come. She had a soft spot to rival Jackson's when it came to kids. One day he was going to have to introduce them. Molly might be just the thing to chill Jackson's icy exterior. Or at least it would be funny watching her try.

"He's had it pretty rough. And it could get a lot worse."

"Well he's a tough boy, I can see it in his eyes. And he has them. And you." Molly held out a towel. "Now get over here and help me with these dishes. Too many for the dish washer. You always make such a mess when you cook."


	4. Chapter 4

The house was quiet. It was a different quiet from when Adam would come out to the house before. The quiet of being there alone with only the ghosts. That quiet was unnerving. It was like looking at those photos of abandoned buildings that he'd see someone post on Facebook.

This was a good quiet. An alive quiet from the sounds of people sleeping. There were nights like that at the hospital, when all the fevers had broken, the pain meds settled the aches. All the kids tucked into their beds safe and sound. Sometimes it only lasted for an hour but it was a nice hour. The way it should be.

And yet he couldn't sleep. It was like a part of his brain knew there were sleeping patients near by and something might happen. It was like that book that Alex liked when they were little. He was Miss Clavell, or his brain was, just waiting to wake up and know that something wasn't right.

It was no good staying in bed. He might as well get some more packing done. Maybe it would be so boring he'd get sleepy again and he could grab a couple more hours before the boys woke up. He'd told them they would have to entertain themselves but he did want to be there when Max turned up. And he wanted to have some fun himself.

Adam was surprised to find someone in the library.

"Jordi. What are you doing?"

"Woke up, couldn't get back to sleep. I didn't think you'd mind if I borrowed a book."

"No, go ahead. Although you might like the stuff over there better." Adam pointed across the room to another set of shelves. "It's all Alex's old books. She liked fantasy and mysteries."

"Cool. The only books at the hospital are school stuff and little kid books."

"Emma didn't have anything?"

Jordi answered by merely raising his eyebrows.

"Right, Emma's books might as well be school books."

"She has some magazines her parents send her but they're mostly those trashy gossip ones. Not really my thing."

"Well grab three or four if you see something you'd like, take them back with you to the hospital."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was going to have Molly pack them up and donate to the library."

"Too bad we don't have a library." Jordi thumbed through one of the books.

"That's a good idea."

"What is?"

"We should have a library. You aren't the only kid that can't sleep at night or gets stuck in bed. The administrators are always nagging us about letting you rot your brains on tv or video games but they never give us any money for non school books.

"If someone donated a bunch of books they can't really say no. I mean they could but they would look like jerks so they won't."

"That would be awesome."

"Since we're both up wanna help me go through these, see what might be good. We'll pack them up and I'll have Jackson look for a place to put them."

"Yeah."

"I think there's some more in our old playroom. Younger stuff. Not baby stuff but like elementary school. I'll have Molly send those too."

They started pulling down books, sorting old textbooks from reading stuff. Jordi flipped through the pages, reading backs and jackets and making stacks of what looked interesting, setting a handful off to the side for his own reading. After about an hour he began yawning.

"You should go back to bed." Adam taped up a box and wrote a label on the outside.

"Can I just stay a little bit longer? I'm really not that tired and this is fun."

"You have a strange sense of fun." Adam laughed. "30 more minutes."

"Okay, but only if you go to bed too. After all, adults need sleep too."

"Touche. It's a deal."

"Dr McAndrew, can I ask you something?" Jordi's voice sounded serious.

"Sure."

"I wanted to ask you this earlier but I didn't want Leo and Dash around."

"Okay."

"Are you paying my hospital bills?"

"You heard what I said to Charlie's parents and you thought I have this money so"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"No. And sort of yes." Adam moved a stack of books off the sofa and sat down next to Jordi. "My family is obnoxiously, even embarrassingly, rich. I grew up in nice houses, went to nice schools. My parents paid all my bills in college and med school so I didn't have to have a job and I could just study. Blah blah and all that. But me personally, I'm not really that rich. I did get a trust fund when I graduated from college, we all did. It wasn't huge but I saved it and I used it to buy my place by the hospital and my car, few other things without having a bunch of credit cards to pay off. I have enough that I can live comfortably even with my not so grand paycheck and I'm not concerned about what might happen if I can't work. I some money put away.

"So in a literal sense I didn't cover those bills. I merely contacted some people I know who set up a fund for select cases. Which is all the hospital is ever going to know. I don't talk about my family or their money. Truth is I don't want folks gossiping about it or why I decided to go into something that pays so horribly like pediatric medicine. I choose it because I like kids and I don't want folks questioning if that's true or if I'm trying to show off that I don't need a high paying job or whatever other dumb crap they can think up."

"I get that. It's like in those trashy magazines. Some celebrity supports some charity and everyone asks if they really mean it or at they just doing it for the good press."

"Something like that."

"And are they paying for Charlie too?"

"Yep."

"All because you asked them too."

"They trust my judgment." Adam winked. "And no one needs to know anything else."

"Know what?"

"Good kid. And on that note I think we both should go to bed."

"Dr McAndrew." Jordi stopped him in the hall.

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"Anytime. Good night Jordi."


	5. Chapter 5

"Good morning, boys."

"Morning Molly."

"I hope you're hungry. I haven't gotten to cook for kids in ages. I'm in the mood to stuff you silly."

They laughed.

"Bring it on." Dash reached for a pitcher of juice and poured them all a glass. "Now that is fresh squeezed."

"Picked it this morning." Molly laughed. She set bowls of hot oatmeal in front of the boys. "Dig in. I'll start the eggs. You boys like them scrambled?"

They nodded with mouths full. Soon they had finished the cereal and tucked into plates of eggs with bacon and sausage and fresh biscuits.

"Molly that was great." Jordi said, finishing off his fourth glass of juice.

"Yeah, totally awesome."

"You boys want anything else?"

Leo laughed, "I couldn't eat another thing. I am stuffed."

"Then you boys better go find something to do with yourselves. Get out of my hair."

"The beach?"

"Yeah."

"Hey Molly?"

"Through the garden. There's a walkway that goes down to the beach."

"Let's hit it."

The boys wandered through the small garden. They find the path and the cottage at the end. As they walked around it, they were surprised to see two surfers out on the water. They had gotten the impression it was private.

"Those guys are pretty good."

"You must be the boys Adam brought from the hospital." They turned to find a blond haired woman standing on the cottage porch. "I'm LIz."

"You're a friend of Dr McAndrew?"

"Friend of a friend. He and Max have known each other since they were kids."

"Max?"

"My girlfriend." Liz nodded at the surfers who were walking out of the water.

"Yes Dash, I also surf." Adam laughed.

"Cool."

"Guys this is Max." Adam nodded at the woman that had been out surfing with him. "And you met Liz?"

"Yeah." Leo nodded.

"So you guys wanna give it a go." Max gave them a smile.

Leo looked down at his crutches. "You guys go ahead."

"You got something against the water?"

Leo lifted up his pants leg to show his prosthetic.

"Oh that. Thought you had a real problem. Just take it off." Max laughed.

"Don't you need two feet to surf? Balance and all that."

"I guess someone never heard of Poks the Fox."

"Who?"

"Ronie Esquivel." Adam chimed in. "He was from the Philippines. Famous for being a one legged surfer."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. He could rip some serious waves." Max nodded. "Although you guys only have one day and just learning how to pop up could take that."

"Pop up?"

"Going from laying down to standing up. You have to do it in one quick move or you'll flip the board. Took Adam like two weeks to really nail it."

"Hey. I was six."

"So, I started surfing when I was four and I nailed it in three days." Max stuck her tongue out at him.

"You were born in Maui. Learning to surf there is like learning how to ride a bike every where else."

"True."

Liz shook her head. "You two are insane." She turned to the boys. "I believe what Max was about to say was given that you're on a limited time table perhaps you should go with body boarding instead."

"It's not as snazzy and a lot of surfers are real snobs about body boarders being in 'their waves' but it's still fun."

"I'm game." Leo answered without hesitating. The others quickly nodded.

"Great." Max gave Leo a high five. "We brought some suits from the shop." Max pointed to the cottage. "Go find something that fits and cake on the sunscreen."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey. You guys had enough?" Adam yelled from the edge of the water.

"NO." They answered back at once.

"Really? Dash?"

"I"m good. I promise."

"Oh come on you worrywart." Max jabbed him. "Let them have their fun. Remember when we'd come down here and stay all day."

"We didn't include a kid with CF and another who's in between chemo cycles." Adam rolled his eyes. "I want them to have fun but I'm still their doctor."

"It's going to be getting dark soon. That's a perfect excuse for dragging them out of the water."

"Good point."

"Guess what I found behind the cottage? The old grill."

"Probably full of holes."

"Nope. It's in perfect shape."

"What would a day surfing be without burgers on the beach?"

"That's what I thought." Max grinned. "I don't suppose you have some charcoal?"

"As a matter of fact I do. Which I think you knew and I bet you made sure Molly got everything else."

"I might have."

"Keep an eye on those three while I go get it."

"Sure thing Doc."

A little while later, Adam had the food cooking while Max and Liz half dragged the boys out of the water.

"You couldn't let us go one more time?"

"Nobody in the water after dark."

"It's not dark yet. Not totally." Leo protested as they plopped down next to the small fire Adam had built.

"Leo Roth." Adam glared at him. "Do I need to call Nurse Jackson? Have her explain it to you?"

"Oh man, he pulled Nurse Jackson on you." Dash's laughter turned into coughing.

"Watch that would you." Adam jogged up to the cottage and returned with a small oxygen tank. Dash didn't argue when Adam set it down and handed him the mask.

"So who wants cheese on their burger?" Liz asked from the grill, as if nothing was wrong. Adam gave her a quiet smile.

Leo and Jordi helped Liz finish making the burgers while Max worked on her "prize winning corn on the cob". Soon they were all munching on their dinner.

"You guys should see the videos I got." Liz held out her phone. "You look like real pros."

"Really?" They crowded around the phone, laughing as they watched their feeble attempts. "Very funny."

"Well you got better." Liz laughed. "I'll make you copies. Photos too."

"Thanks."

"Who wants desert?" Max pulled open a paper bag. "We've got s'mores."

"Of course Molly would put those in the bag."

"Remember how Justin would set his marshmallows on fire."

"He swears they were better that way."

"Gross."

"What I remember was Alex managing to cook four marshmallows at once and they were all perfect. She was the marshmallow roasting queen."

"More like the marshmallow eating queen. What was her record? 15?"

"17. And then she started laughing so hard she almost spit them out."

"Dude. That's gross." Dash laughed.

"I guess kids these days aren't so easily amused." Liz threw a marshmallow at him.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Leo reached for another piece of chocolate.

"It feels like since we were born."

"Max is Molly and Luke's niece. She'd come visit a lot. Mostly summers. Her parents, their sister, were killed in a car accident when Molly was six."

"Seven."

"She came to live here."

"Thats cool. Not cool that your parents died. That sucks. But cool that you have an awesome aunt and uncle."

"I like them." Max nodded. "And I seriously owe Adam for refusing to sell the house to anyone that wouldn't let them stay if they wanted to."

"You did that?"

"Yeah. Didn't seem right to let them get kicked out of their home. Their parents were the original caretakers so they grew up here too."

"That's old school."

"Yeah. The new owner actually said it was one of the reasons he wanted to buy the place. He likes having someone here that knows the place, all its quirks. And he said I can come use the beach whenever I want."

"Nice."

"You know what would be nice." Leo leaned back, looking up at the stars. "If Jordi had brought his guitar."

"Yeah. This party could use some tunes. Right J-Man."

Adam looked over at Jordi who had curled up and fallen asleep. "TKO." He laughed.

"Oh well." Dash laid down on the sand. "Still this is good."

"Yeah." Leo agreed.

Adam stretched out, tucking his hands under his head. He looked up at the stars peeking out in the darkness. He had to agree with Dash and Leo, it was good.


	7. Chapter 7

"He shoots, He scores. The crowd goes wild." Dash threw his hands up in the air. "Hosney is undefeated."

"You boys put that away and come eat lunch."

"Hey Molly."

"Hey to you, hurry up now." Molly squatted Dash with a towel. He put the basketball back in the storage closet and followed them to the kitchen.

Adam was filling bowls.

"Paella?" Jordi asked, looking at the rice and meat.

"Close. Jambalaya."

"Smells great." Jordi said as he washed his hands in the sink.

"Could you grab that bread?" Adam pointed to a basket full of corn muffins. Jordi grabbed the basket and followed Adam, who had picked up the last bowls of stew.

"Are you guys packed up?" Adam asked as they dug into their food.

They nodded.

"Good. My shift is at 4 and I want to drop some stuff off at the condo."

"We have to go so soon." Leo frowned. "I want to kick Dash in pool again."

"You've got time for a quick game. If you don't dawdle with lunch."

"Cool."

"Except I'm going to kick your butt."

"I don't think so."

"I get the winner." Jordi jumped in. "If there's time. So I can kick his butt."

The boys quickly finished their food.

"Put your bags in the front hall, please." Adam asked as they got up. He quickly finished his own lunch and began cleaning up the kitchen.

"They are good boys." Molly smiled at him.

"Yes they are." Adam kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks for letting me bring them up here."

"It's your home."

"I know but thanks."

"I like that quiet one, Jordi. He reminds me of you."

"Really? He reminds me of Alex. I should have told him to bring his guitar. He's really good. He even writes his own songs."

"He does. Good for him."

"I heard him play one of them for the other kids. And he told me that he won a talent contest at school playing one of his songs. That's so Alex. And I told you about him coming from Mexico to ask me to take him as a patient. That kind of guts is completely Alex. I never did anything like that. Not if she didn't make me."

"But he's also quiet. He doesn't talk, he listens. But you can see it in his eyes, he understands everything. He feels it. That was you. You were always the one that everyone forgot was there but you saw it and heard it all."

"Okay so maybe he's both of us."

"Maybe. Maybe thats why you didn't say no."

"He didn't really let me."

"That is why you say you didn't say no. But I think in your heart you never wanted to."

"You've got me there." Adam laughed.

They quickly finished cleaning up the kitchen and went through the lists Adam had made of what was to be sent where.

"Oh I forgot something." Adam reached for a pen. "Could you go through Alex's old dress up stuff and send anything that's still in good shape to the hospital. I thought we could put in the peds playroom. They have lots of dolls and stuff but not a lot of dress up stuff."

"They should be cleaned first."

"Good point. Call me when you get it sorted and I'll take it to my cleaners first."

"I'll get everything else taken care of. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried. You and Luke have always taken care of us." Adam looked at his watch. "I should get going. I can't be late."

"I'll get the boys."

"Thanks." Adam was putting the bags in the SUV when Molly and the boys came outside.

"If you've forgotten anything, just call me. I'll bring it to the hospital." Molly was saying to them.

"It was nice meeting you." They all gave the older woman hugs.

"Where's Luke?" Jordi asked. The older man had been rather absent during most of their visit.

"He's not much on company. He's a grumpy old bear." Molly grinned.

"Well tell him goodbye." Jordi said.

"I will." Molly brushed his hair out of his eyes. "You boys behave yourselves and come back and see this old woman."

Adam grinned to himself. Count on Molly to act like they were going off to school and not back to a hospital.

"Maybe you could come see us sometime?" Jordi asked.

"Will you play your songs for me?"

"Sure."

"Then of course I'll come." Molly smiled at him. "Not get going before you make Doctor Adam late for work."

Adam gave her a long hug. "I'll take good care of them."

"You always do."

Molly waved to the boys as they drove off. Adam couldn't help noticing that they were rather quiet as he drove down the PCH.

" Oh Jordi. I called Jackson at the hospital this morning." Adam said over his shoulder. "I asked her to look for a place to put the books."

"What books?" Dash turned from the window, curious.

"Jordi and I were going through the library the other night and found a bunch of our old books from when I was your age. Fantasy and mystery stuff. Some of Alex's old comics and drawing books. Things like that. Jordi mentioned that there's not a lot of books to read around the hospital so we packed them up to keep them."

"What did Nurse Jackson say?"

"She said it was a great idea and she'd look around. When she finds something Luke will bring the boxes down."

"Cool."

"But she did say that she doesn't have time to go unpacking a bunch of stuff. So I guess you'll have to do it."

"We can help." Dash volunteered. "I mean I'll help."

"I will too." Leo added.

"Good." Adam smiled. "Oh and this morning I found some of our old CDs. I know it's archaic technology and all that, plus the music is 15-20 years old but there might be something decent. A few movies too. Bunch of old John Hughes and stuff."

"Who's John Hughes?"

"Once again Dash your lack of pop culture awareness is disappointing."

"Whatever."

"He was big in the '80s, early 90s. He wrote like 30 movies. Sixteen Candles. Breakfast Club. Weird Science. Baby's Day Out. Uncle Buck."

"Never heard of them."

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off? You have know Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's a whole movie about a kid who skips school."

"Nope."

"Home Alone?"

"That the one with the little kid that gets left at home when his parents were on vacation and the robbers broke into the house."

"Yes."

"That guy. That guy is tight."

Adam shook his head laughing. He pulled the car up in front of a town house. "This won't take long." He said as he hit the garage door opener.

"Need any help?"

"Sure." Adam popped open the back of the SUV where the boxes were tucked in beside their bags. "Hey Leo can you get the door?"

Leo caught the keys.

"It's the silver one with the green ring on it." Adam said as he pulled his overnight bag onto his shoulder and grabbed a box. "There's an alarm box by the door. It's 1-7-4-4-3-9."

Adam set the box on the counter and dropped his bag on the floor. "Just set those on the table." He nodded to Dash and Jordi. "I'm just going to grab that last box. Help yourselves to a water or some juice. Glasses are in the cabinet."

"You want something?"

"I'm good." Adam called from garage. He came back the last box and a bag of oranges, which he tossed in the refrigerator.

"hey there." Jordi said to the cat, who had jumped into his lap.

"That's Rufus." Adam said as he filled a bowl with water and set it on the floor.

"Hey Rufus." Jordi gave the cat a scratch behind the ears.

"Careful he won't let you stop that." Adam grabbed a bag out of the pantry and filled the cat's food bowl.

"That's okay." Jordi smiled. "I like cats."

"I'm going to shave and change into my work clothes. I'll be ten minutes, fifteen tops. You guys feel free to look around."

"Cool place." Jordi said, walking into the main room. "Check out the view." He pointed out a window where they could see the ocean just a couple of streets over."

"Doctor McAndrew really likes being near the water." Dash laughed. "Bet he goes jogging every morning so he can check out the hotties on the beach in their bikinis."

"You blame him?"

"Heck no."

"Check out this photo." Leo said, pointing to a black and white over the sofa.

"You think his sister took it?" Jordi looked around the room. "You think she took all of them." He pointed to several other framed photos.

"Probably. She was really good."

"Hey guys." Dash called out from an adjoining room. "You know what would go perfect in here. That sweet pool table."

"He probably won't keep it."

"I'm keeping it." Adam said from the doorway. "And yes I was thinking I'd put it in here. Oh and to answer your other question, yes Alex took all the photos."

"You heard that?"

"You think the view from here was nice, come check this out." Adam lead them upstairs to the main bedroom. "When I was looking for a new place I wanted something that was light and open but not too big. When my agent called she told me the place was three bedrooms with a nice kitchen and an office which seemed a bit much."

He opened up a pair of french doors. "But then she showed me this."

"Nice." Dash leaned over the balcony.

"How could I resist waking up to this view every morning?" Adam laughed. "Especially on the weekends when the bikinis are out early."

"Wow you really did hear everything."

Jordi gave Rufus one last scratch as they left. It was only minutes before Adam was pulling into the valet.

"And we're back." Leo said with a sigh.

"All good things must come to an end." A voice piped up from behind them.

"Hey Nurse Jackson." Jordi pulled his bag out of the back of the car.

"You didn't have to come get us."

"Well well, who thinks he's the center of my world." Jackson smirked. "Not that its any of your business but I'm working the late shift."

"Oh."

"Oh is right." Jackson gave him a light smack in the arm. "Did you boys have a good time?"

"Yeah."

"Yes ma'am."

"Which means he probably let you eat tons of junk food and stay up all night watching movies that would rot your brains." Jackson shook her head. "I've got them." She gave Adam a mocking wave.

"Thanks again, Dr McAndrew." Jordi waved as he drove off to the employee parking lot.

"You're probably all dehydrated and Leo I bet you didn't do any of your exercises." Jackson was muttering as Jordi caught up with them. "And Jordi you look totally flushed. Do you have a fever? Not even clocked in and I'm already cleaning up after the doctors. I told him this was a terrible idea. Take you for some fun, what can it hurt. Some fun is an afternoon at the movies, maybe a museum. Couple of hours."

The elevator stopped a floor below theirs. "I've got something to take care of. You boys get upstairs. I'll be checking on you and I expect to find you in your rooms."

"Yes ma'am." They all said together. They knew Nurse Jackson meant well and once she was satisfied they weren't on death's doorstep she'd leave them alone. Then they could go hang out with Kara and Emma.

"You think we should tell her the truth?" Jordi said as he unpacked his bag.

"Tell Nurse Jackson that we didn't have any junk food or even a soda. Swear to her that Dr McAndrew didn't have a loaded bar he didn't notice us stealing from. Tell her that we went surfing and played basketball," Dash plopped down the old love seat. "Or even that you didn't have a single fever or puke once. That Leo kept his leg on basically the whole time without complaining. And I only had one tiny little attack. Sure lets tell her everything."

"She'd never believe it." Leo laughed.

"If you guys hadn't been there I'm not sure I would believe it either. Kind of feels like a dream."

"Yeah. A really good dream." Dash nodded. "I don't even mind that those ladies were lesbians. They were hot."

They laughed.

"Hey Leo." Jordi sat on the end of his bed. "When you had your surgery did Dr McAndrew tell you to think of something happy?"

"Yeah. I think he does that to all the kids. So they won't be scared."

"What did you think of?"

"Making the winning kick at the state championships. It was my last time playing soccer before I got sick and it was a killer hard shot."

"Cool."

"You?"

"Remember that song I played up on the roof."

"Yeah. Cool song."

"I wrote it for the school talent show and I won first place."

"Why do you ask?" Leo sat on the arm of the loveseat.

"Dr McAndrew said I'd have to have another surgery." Jordi pulled out his phone. "I think this is going to be the day I think about." He tapped his phone to reveal the wallpaper. It was a photo of the three of them in their wetsuits making 'tough' faces.

"We look so stupid." Leo laughed.

"Speak for yourself. I look tight." Dash shot back. "You got any others?"

~~~Fin~~~


End file.
